County plan commission OK’s rezoning land for amusement park parking lot

The Shawano Leader/May 4, 2006
By Tim Ryan

Midwest Amusement Park was granted a rezoning Wednesday that will allow for additional parking on property adjacent to the racetrack, but lost out on a bid to also use that property for a dirt track for motorcycle races.

The Shawano County Planning, Development and Zoning Committee also denied a request for expanded hours at the racetrack, keeping operations at the current 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Midwest had a purchase agreement for two parcels of property currently owned by George Dillenburg that was contingent on the property being rezoned to commercial service so that it could be used for parking.

Midwest initially had requested an expansion of hours to 11 p.m. seven nights a week, but racetrack officials explained that the request was in error.

USA International Raceway general manager Scott Paape said the racetrack only hoped to have the leeway to go as late as 11 p.m. on Thursday nights for go-kart races.

The committee chose not to address the expanded hours request because the request had apparently changed since it was presented to the Town of Wescott.

The committee also sidestepped a condition imposed by Wescott that called for racing activities to end at 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Supervisor Robert Krause, who was elected chairman of the planning committee Wednesday, said the racetrack should go back to the town and re-negotiate the hours.

The committee also did not take up a request to allow a greater range of motorcycles at the racetrack because language in the racetrack’s conditional use permit already allows for any type of motorcycle.

USA International Raceway got approval from the Wescott Plan Commission, by a 5-2 vote, for a greater range of bikes after it was explained the request applied to a safety instruction course that was planned and not racing.

Several neighbors of the track appeared before the committee, objecting to the racetrack’s request to expand its hours, and to the new dirt track being proposed, out of noise concerns.

The property, at W5901 County Road BE in the Town of Wescott is owned by Midwest Amusement Park, LLC, one of several companies affiliated with the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology.

The racetrack opened in July 2004. Among the events hosted there have been a North America Can-Am Championship motorcycle racing event in June of this year and an American Motorcycle Association race on July 30.